Front-wheel brake



May 14, 929. v A.

W. FREE-ISE Y FRONT WHEEL BRAKE Filed Deo. 14, 1%927 2 Sheets-Sheet l A. w. FREI-is. A Lfmm FRONT WHEEL BRAKE 4 Filed Deo. 14, 1927 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 lm/vanto@ lpatienter] May ld, i922?.

UNITED STATES w. runnen, or nnrnorr, MICHIGAN, nssreiion rro GENERAL iiioronscon- :eene-Tron, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A oonronn'rron or DELAWARE;

.ALBERT 'PAT-ENTOFFICE! FRONT-WHEEL iai-mire..

" A pplication'led December 14, 1927. .Serial No. 239,556.

y My invention relates'to internal brakes and 4more particularly to such brakes, ldesigned lor use on the Jiront wheels of motor vehicles. The principal object is to provide an inter unal front Wheel brake in'which the pressure' ot the 'operating cam against the -shoesinay be equalized at all times to compensate for movement of the slices due to self actuation and for unequal wear of the brake lining.

|ll`his is accomplished by allowing the cam to iloat between the ends ,of the shoes. By an ranging the connection between the cam and the brake operating lever in a particular manner, thisoam may move a'. comparatively large' distance back and forth between' the shoes regardless ot' the amount of pressure being appliedby the operating leven A ,second' object is to provide .such a brake in which 'an adjusting mechanism is arranged on the outside of the drum in an accessible location, to permit adjustment of the amount of movement necessary to actuate the brake, and which may be adjusted Without disturb? ing the above described relation of the brake loperating mechanism.

Another object is to provide suoha brake in which the operating levers are arranged with ies'pectto the swivelling axis ofthe front. wheel' in suoli a' manner materially by thesteeringmovement Gij-the wheel.

'The above and other objects will be more readily understoodupon referring toj the vspecilicaton and accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary vient taken from the center of the vehicle and looking` toward the inside of the left front wheel, showing my improved brake' `operating` mechanism 'iii connection therewith Fig.. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of llligjv l, showing the construction partly. in

. section and partly in elevation..

llig. l.

ing plate 3l.

that when the bra-ker is in applied position7 it'will not be aiectedi'- Fig. 7 isa detail perspective'view of part ot'ithe adj listing mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to 'Fig'. iorm of operating front axle of a motor vehicle on which is.

swivelled afstcering knuckle 12 by means elija king pin la passing through aligned open ings in the end of the axle and in the knuckle arms 16 and 18. The steering knuckle isJ formed with the usualA stubairle 2O for the' front `wheel 22.' Secured to the inner 4side of thewheel by bolts 2l is a brake'drum 26.

Piloted upon a shoulder E28 and drawn against4 bosses 30 on'the knuckle by bolts'32, is abacklt will be seen. that this plate will turn with the knuckle when the wheel is swivelled in steering the vehicle. Riveted to this'backing plate is a pressed metal member 36 which serves as an; anchor to support the brakeshoesi as shown in Fig. 3.9-B1'ake lining/40 is secured to thev shoes and is moved into. engagement with the drum by a cani 42 Whichniay be urged against rollers lll in the ends of the shoes.

Adjacent the ends ot' the shoes engaged by the cam is .a plate i6 secured to the backing plate and -formed with wings i8 which t into openings in the ends of the shoes to prev'ent transverse movement of the latter, while freely permitting the movement ofthe shoes to and from brake applying position. The

shoes are normally held away from the drinn by the tension spring 5() which pulls the shoes i toward each other so that the Vrollers'are :il-

ways bearing against the cam.I

' Referring to Fig. to the end ot a shaft 52 which is journalled 5, the cam l2 is secured ina sleeve 54; which passes through anelonygated opening 56 in the backing plate. Se-

cured tothe backing plate by a bolt 58j is a stationary plate 60having an elongated opening G2 through whichthesleeve 54: passes.

livotallyI mounted upon the bolt 58' between the stationary plate 60 and. the. backing plate is a slidableplate 6ft. Thebolt 58 is Jformed with a vshoulder G6 Which prevents drawing the stationary plate 60 down tightly against the slidalile plate- (fl. The sleeve 54 is assembled in the slidable 'plate 64: by inserting the end which adjacent the cani, through' the opening in the slidable plate untilthe roe latter abuts against. the shoulder 0S. after which the sleeve is pressed through a die and aflange is upset upon lt,1or the purpose o1t preventing rotation of the. sleeve and also to prevent sduewxing the slidable plate. between the lnufking plate and the stationary plate. l

As shown in Fig. et, pins 72 pass through holes in the backing plate and the stationary plate and through slots't and the slidable plate G4. Compression springs 7G etween the backing plate and washers 78 on the pins, serve, to pull the stationary plate G0 up against the slidable plate G1 just tightly enough to permit the latter to move only when the brakes are applied, when the cam may swing in an arc about the center ot' the bolt 58 to exert the same amount ot' pressure against both shoes. This floating movement is necessary because in the torm ot' brake shown due to the location ot the brake anchor, when the brake is applied one of the shoes is pulled outward into tighter engagement with the drum, by the rotation of the latter, and the other shoe is pulled inward. This is what is referred to as self-actuation ot the brakes. It is to 'permit thisl movementthat the cam is ar 'anged so that it can float back and forth. The floating of the cam also compensates for unequal wear of the brake linings on the two shoes. V

.Tournalled on the sleeve 54 is. a long arm 80 and journalled on the shaft 52 is a short arm 82. A yoke member 84 is keyed to the .shaft 52 between the long and short arms and is clamped thereon by the bolt SG. Pivotally connected to this yoke member by a pin SS is an adjusting rod on which is threaded an adjusting member 92 which is held between the long and short arms by two halt trunnion members 94 in which the adjusting member is free to be rotated. These trunnion members are rotatably held in holes in the long and short arms land the whole assembly is held together by a bolt 96 which passes through and draws the long and short arms together, there being a spacer 98 between them. To adjust the position of the cam with respect to the arms S0 and 82 to take up for wear of the brake linings, it is merely necessary to rotate the adjusting member 92 to the desired position after which it may be locked in that position by the lock nut 100. It

will be readily seen that the angular position of the camwith respect to the shoes may be changed-without disturbingr the position of the arms 80 and 82 which are arranged in a definite relation with respect to the rest ot the brake operating mechanism for a purpose to be described later.

i Pivotally connected to the outer end ot the long arm 80 is a link 102 having at its opposite end a ball 104 which fits into a socket- 106 formed inthe outer end of' a brake operating lever 108 pivoted on the axle 10. The ball end of this link is held in the socket` bv a` split u'ically shaped stamping 1'10 secured to the lever 10S by a screw 112. This stamping is provided with a U-shaped slot. 111- to allow it; to slip over the link 102 when being assemthe brake is applied, iwithout materially atfccting the braking pressure.

One of the particular advantages of my construction is that the cam may float, back and forth between the brake shoes to equalize the pressure on them, even though the maximum amount of braking pressure heilig applied through the cam. This is accomplished by the use of the link 102 and by properly locating this link with respect to the arm 80. It will be readily seen that as the cam swings about the bolt 58, shal't 52 with this arm will tend to swing bodily about the same point, but since the outer end ot the arm is connected` to the link 102 and the lutter must swing about the center ot the ball and socket joint. the outer end otl the arm S0 will travel in substantially a vertical line, or at right angles to the axis ot the lilik 102. This will make the path of movement of the shaft 52 substantially parallel with the path of movement ot the point ot connection between t-he arm S0 and the link 102 and consequently the shalt 52 together with the arm 80 may swing t"reel y without their swinging movement. being restricted by the link 102 even though the brake is heilig' irml v applied. Obviouslv the angular-ity otvthe cam with respect to the shoes` will not be changed, as the, shaft. 52 may rotate freely in the sleeve 5t when `the cam swings in an arc about the center of the bolt 5S. If the point of connection of the arm S0 and the link 102 did not swing in an arc substantially at right angles to the axis of the link and parallel with the path of movement of the shaft 52, the-floating movement ot the Vcam would be hindered by the arm 80 tending to swing into the link 102. This. of course would not permit the cam to float freely in either direction as it should in a brake of the selt-actuating type.

Itl has been foundl when using front wheel brake constructions in which the braking force was transmitted from the axle to the frame through the springs. that when the brakes are applied there is a tendency for the springs to twist about an axis transverse to the fore and aft axis of the frame. The axle being rigidly connected with the springs is also caused to twist or rock, thus changing slightly the relation between the axle and the frame. This relative movement is onmmh +n llt) errante noticeably Vatleet the pressure oil the ShoesV against the drum; rllhe center oit this swing- 124e between the support and the backing plate. 'llliisrein'forcement is clamped be- V tween the backing plate and the boss'BO and Bti the bolt 32 passes through it. Pins 72 pass through-slots 126 inthe support and through the backing plate and `springs 6, as shown `in lig. 4C, are provided Von'the inside of the hacking plate to `pull the support snugly against thebacking plate to prevent it from sliding too freely. The same adjusting mechanism isprovided as inthe form shown in4 litigi .1, the only difference being that 'the trulli nich members 94 are pivoted in one end of the long arm 127 and the shortarm 128, and the shalt 52 passes through the middleof the long` arm 127. Ait the .opposite end of the long arm 127 a ball 13 0 is provided'anlA this ball is clamped in a4 socket 'forine'din'two link members 132 and 134g, which are held together by bolts 136. r1`he link member 134: is provided vvithfaislot 138 through which the end of the long arm 126 adjacent the ballpasses to pern mit angular movement between the link memher and the arm, Pivoted on the :axle is af brake operating lever lllwhich extends up over the king pin and in which is secureda ball member 142 which lextends downwardly. 'lhis ball member is also cl-a'mpedbetween the link members 132 and 134 in sockets formed t 'iii them. A slot 144 is provided in the end of the link member 132 through which the shank of the ball mem'ber 142 passes. The opera-` tion of this liormof brake operating4 mech-` the spirity andl scope anisin is substantially the saine as that of the toi-m' shown in Fig. 1.

lt isthought from' the foregoing taken in connection`l with the accompa'nyingt drawing, that the construction and" operation. of the .mechanism will be apparentto those Iskilled in the art, and tliatyarious cliaiigggesin` size,

shape, proportion and details, oii'"construc tion may be made Without departing from evenly into eiigageinei'it with said drum, an arm adapted-to actuate said cam, an axle on which the steering' Wheel is swivelled, afbrake` v operati-nglever pivoted on the axle, and alink prising, a brake drinn, internal brake shoes, a

of the appended claimsf l 1 tand such that the cam may freely float back and forth between the slices to bear evenly connecting the operatingP lever with the arm,

the arrangengient of the rarm and the link relative to the lever beiiip, such that when the brake applied thecam may ireely float back and forth between the shoes in order to bear ystai'itially in the .Astriyelling` axis when theA brake is applied.,

2.` Steering` lrvlieel brake mechanism com floating;V cainadapted to torce said shoes v evenly into engagenie'nt Withsaid drum, an arm adapted to actuate said cam, an axle on which the steering Wheel sivivelled, a brake -opeiatiii, i,` leverpivoted ,ontlic axle, a link .connecting said lever4 with said arm, and Ia` ball an d socket joint between said lever and said link arranged to be substantially/in the swivel- ,liiig axis when the brake is applied inorder thatthe svvivelling movement of the steering 'wheel vvillr not affect the braking;l pressure,

and in order that the cam may freely float back and forth between the slices to, bear' evenly against them Without encountering re;

vsistance caused by 4the brake operating mech:

anism. l Y A 3. Steering 'wheel brake mechanism comprising, a brake drum, a steering knuckle, a 1

b ake backing plate secured te said knuckle, internal brake shoes anchored on said plate,` a floating cam adapted to force said shoes evenly into engagement With said drum, said cani being pivoted on said plate, an arm adapted to actuaire said cam, adjusting mechanism interposed between said cam and said Harm to compensate for Wear oi said shoes an axle on Wliichthe steering` Wheel is syvivelled, a brake operating lever pivoted on said l"axle, link connecting said lever with Vsaidar'm, "and a ball and socket'joiiit between said lever and said liiik'arranged to swing substantially into the swivelling axis oi the steering` Wheel when the brake is applied.

f1. ,Steering Wheel brake meehaiiisincoinprising a brake druminternal brake slices, a floatingcam 'adapted to torce said slices evenly' into engagement with saiddrum, an arm adapted to aetuate said cam, an axle on whiehthe steering` wheel is swivelled, a brake opeiati'iigy lever pivoted on the axle, and a link connectingr said lever to said arm, the arico' rangeiiientoi' the brake operating mechanism being such that when the brake'i/s a `plied the .pressure ci" the shoes against t e' vdrinn willV not be 'materially ali'ected byfthe' swiv'elling movement ot' the steering Wheel against `them (independently of, the degree-o1 application of the braking pressure being; apr' a floating cam adapted to torce saidshoes into engagementwith Said drum, an arm adapted of the steering wheel when the brake is in to actuate'sfiidcam,- an axle on which the applied position, und the opposite end of the 'Kesteeiing wheel is'swivelledya brake operating operating level` -beingsubstantially in the l0 n levelpvotedorr said-"axle, :xlink connecting axis of rocking of said axle unused by the 51 said operating levewith said arm, the' point brake application.

' of ,connection of said opeating lever and said In testimony whereof I uiix my signature. link being substantially inthe swivelling axis ALBERT W. FREI-ISE. 

